Kiss, László (MTA Konkoly Observatory)

Time-series analysis in variable star astronomy: recent advances in the physics of stellar oscillations

Observations of brightness variations of stars can reveal unique astrophysical information that is beyond reach otherwise. Most notably asteroseismology, the study of internal structure of stars via interpreting their oscillation spectra, has seen a tremendous development in the last 10-15 years. The roots of this lie in the advances of space photometry, a special technique for obtaining 10^{-6} relative precision in the brightness measurements and in the new tools in modelling and interpreting the time-series observations. In addition to the classical linear analyses, such as the variations of the Fourier-technique, a range of time-frequency methods has been applied to real empirical data to detect hidden regular structures in the signals that can have physical implications. On the other hand, the use of non-linear methods, such as phase space reconstruction and the detection of low-dimensional chaos in astrophysical systems, has also seen an increased popularity due to the new kind of data made possible by the dedicated space photometric missions. Here we present some of the most fundamental tools that are used in stellar astrophysics and highlight the most spectacular results that were obtained by these seemingly "boring" computational methods.

The talk is held in English!

Az előadás nyelve angol!

Date: Oct 1, Tuesday 4:15pm

Place: BME, Building „Q”, Room QBF13

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